In Atlanta, lemon pepper wet wings have diners coming back for more
Americans are expected to eat nearly 1.5 billion chicken wings this Super Bowl Sunday, according to the National Chicken Council.
At J.R. Crickets in Midtown Atlanta, the oil is always bubbling inside the kitchen.
"We go through a lot of wings," said Paul Juliano, founder and president of J.R. Crickets.
On an average day, chefs cook some 4,000 wings at that location alone, and the most popular flavor is lemon pepper.
"Oh, of course it's the lemon pepper wet, everyone loves it, that's the number one, no doubt about it," said Mondi Spearman, who works at J.R. Crickets.
Lemon pepper wet is a blend of medium wing sauce with lemon pepper sprinkled on top.
It's a famous flavor in Atlanta, which was created and made popular at J.R. Crickets.
"Our lemon pepper has at least two items in it - ingredients - that nobody else uses," Juliano said.
Juliano is not giving away the secret recipe. He opened the Original J.R. Crickets in 1982, and customers have been coming in for lemon pepper wings for decades.
"Salty, good, it's just one of those comfort foods, you know," said Ross Dixon. "It just makes you feel familiar. So I just got in town today, and this is the first place I came to eat because it makes me feel like I'm back home."
State Rep. Eric Bell recently introduced a bipartisan bill that would designate lemon pepper as Georgia's official state chicken wing flavor.
"It's something we can all smile about as Georgians be proud about, that not only in Georgia do we like lemon pepper, but it's spreading across the nation," Bell said.
It's a staple of Southern cuisine that unites people, and the bill is now gaining support.
"I think that it's long overdue," Dixon said. "I probably spent my whole Pell Grant on lemon pepper wings, so it makes sense."
"I can't describe it, you have to come and try it yourself," Spearman said.
"What better way to bring people together than over the kitchen table," Bell said.
House Bill 1013 was introduced last month and has not yet received its first committee hearing. Bell said he hopes it will be assigned soon and is encouraging Georgians to show their support as the legislative process moves forward.